Monthly Archives: March 2009

Upset over Capcom charging money for Resident Evil 5′s ‘Versus’ DLC pack? Then you are really going to be upset now: Japan is not only getting it sooner than the West, but cheaper as well.

Japanese gamers will pay 160 MS Points for the content on Live, or ¥250 on PSN, half the price of charges in the US and Europe.

Plus, instead of getting it in “a few weeks”, it lands on March 26 over there.

Hit Joystiq for more information.

The gaming industry is expected to reach $40 billion in annual revenues globally by 2012, according to market research firm TMNG.

The mobile games market is expected to grow 24.6 percent annually through 2012.

When researching mobile and regular modes of gaming platforms, TMNG discovered that increased network access and faster broadband offerings played a huge role in overall growth.

“Despite the current economic downturn, gaming has proven to be resilient in these trying times and is the leading entertainment segment that is fueling growth,” said TMNG’s Rich Nespola.

“The expansion of casual games, simpler user interfaces and the proliferation of innovative business models is broadening the gamer demographic. The timing is ripe for service providers to hedge the business cycle.”

Research also revealed that the player demographic is changing in general, with women making up 50 percent of the overall user base.

The average age of gamers was discovered to be a median average of 33 years of age.

The debut trailer for Obsidian RPG Alpha Protocol is posted after the break, and it’s totally badass.

Locales shown off are Moscow, Saudi Arabia and Rome, where it looks as though you’ll be doing some lock-picking, using martial arts skills against baddies, and, of course, shooting loads of people.

The GameTrailers video includes a chat with Feargus Urquhart and lead designer Chris Avellone, in which they talk about the events leading up to the game’s opening sequence, your mission and the blurred line between being a “nice guy” and a “not so nice guy”.

Expected release date for the spy-action RPG is June 15. It’s out for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.

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GameTrailers has posted the first video of Fallout 3 DLC, The Pitt.

Shows loads of shooting, a baddie getting hit in the face with a flamethrower: nice stuff really.

It lands on March 24. Hit the jump to watch.

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Batman: Arkham Asylum will be available in Collector’s Edition form for a whopping $100. That’s $40 more than the normal edition.

The CE contains a 12″ Batarang, DC Custom Encyclopedia, DLC Pack One, Bonus DVD with behind the scenes features and a soundtrack.

This information was provided by GameStop, but according to Kotaku the listing has since changed to: “Final contents of collector’s edition are to be determined.”

Interested parties may want to hold on a bit longer, just in case more goodies are to be included. Or removed.

MTV Multiplayer has a list of Resident Evil 5 secrets up, written by the man himself, Masachika Kawata.

The list contain spoilers, so we won’t post them here, just in case.

Loads of stuff included there, from boss tricks, sneak tips and secret hidden items.

Be brave and hit the link for more.

Remember back in October when Valve cut the price of Red Orchestra down to $5? If not, that’s OK: all weekend long you can get it again for that paltry sum.

That’s 66 percent off the original price, so if you’ve been holding out on buying Tripwire’s tactical PC shooter, now’s your chance.

As an added incentive, the game includes 44 Steam achievements and the new map, Fallen Heroes.

Doubt you’d find it cheaper anywhere else unless you did something illegal — and we know none of you would ever do such a thing.

Microsoft has settled the $90 million patent infringement lawsuit brought against it by PalTalk.

PalTalk claimed it owned rights to “interactive applications over multiple computers,” and said that Microsoft infringed upon these via Xbox 360 and Halo multiplayer.

The trial, which started Monday, ended early when both parties agreed on an undisclosed sum.

This figure ranges anywhere from the $200,000 that PalTalk originally paid for the patents, to the $90 million it filed against Microsoft.

The Pitt will add roughly four hours of play to Fallout 3, Jeff Gardiner, lead producer on the download, has told VG247.

“The Pitt comprises of around four hours of playtime,” said the developer.

“You can always re-visit it for its unique vendors and repeatable quests as well.”

Gardiner added: “There are also four new Achievements, as well as new perks.”

Your 800 MS Points won’t just be sunk into playtime, however. We were assured there’s plenty of “phat lewt” to be had.

“There’s plenty of new gear in The Pitt,” said Gardiner.

“It’s just as brutal but not as high tech as the load-outs available in Operation: Anchorage. There are
several new raider armors, even a stylized version of the Brotherhood of Steels’ Power Armor.

“New weapons include an ‘AutoAxe,’ a two handled melee weapon complete with a serrated rotary blade, great for sawing through bone, and a silenced scoped automatic rifle we’ve coined ‘The Inflitrator’.”

The Pitt releases for 360 and PC only on March 24.

Capcom’s defended the fact it’s charging for Resident Evil 5′s Versus mode, telling CVG it’s a simple case of watching the bottom line.

“Although Versus mode makes use of the assets that exist in the game, the functionality is not currently in the game and is above and beyond the initial scope of Resident Evil 5,” said a spokesperson.

“We have never included a Versus mode in Resident Evil before, and as well as the costs of development of the feature, there’s also additional bandwidth costs associated with it.”

The patch, costing $4.99 on PSN, or 400 MS Points, adds two Versus modes, namely Slayer and Survivor.

It’s releasing in a “few weeks”.

The entire intro of GTA Chinatown Wars has popped up on YouTube: watch it after the break, should you feel the need.

We’re not going to spoil anything for you, just in case, but suffice it to say this looks bloody amazing for a DS game. As you’d expect.

It’s out next week. Thanks, GoNintendo.

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IGA Worldwide chairman Justin Townsend has confirmed to VentureBeat that the company is also up for sale.

The in-game ads firm is expected to secure more investment in the coming weeks, but Townsend conceded it had a fiduciary duty to its shareholders to explore the sale of the company.

From the piece:

While Townsend said he did not want to sell the company, he acknowledged that times are tough. After the economic turmoil erupted in September, he said that ad budgets were scaled back and the company realized it wouldn’t be able to make its projected revenues. In November, IGA laid off 25 percent of the company, leaving it with about 45, Townsend said. But Townsend said IGA did not want to accept “low ball offers” to purchase the company.

Plenty more through there.

There’s a video of the upcoming Play Control! Wii version of Pikmin 2 after the break.

It looks really great, to be honest, although that may be because Little Pat decided she only wanted four hours sleep last night.

See for yourself. It out on April 24 in Europe.

Thanks, GoNintendo.

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American McGee’s Grimm Volume 3 is starting to wind down, what with only two episodes left after this week’s offering of Sleeping Beauty.

In Grimm’s sordid version of the fairy tale, a socially awkward witch puts a kingdom to sleep for 100 years. This promises to be the longest episode yet.

Also, Just Cause has been added to the free-to-play list, but only until March 26.

That should get you pumped until Just Cause 2 comes out sometime this year.

GameTap’s offerings can be found here, and if you are chintzy and don’t wanna spend the cash on a subscription, just play the free ones.

EA Sports’ Peter Moore has spoken to Sporting News about how his new sports games – coupled with Wii MotionPlus – are going to change the way gamers perceive the genre.

As an avid tennis player, Moore wanted people to get up off the couch to play Grand Slam Tennis, he said.

“What the Wii MotionPlus allows you to do is do a true authentic sports motion. When you swing the racket and you bring it back for an overhead lob or smash, then that is reflected,” he said.

“The amount of sensitivity that now brings allows true sports motion. It’s the same with golf. What you can do with Wii Motion Plus is truly bring it back, swing through the club and then it allows you to hit draws, fades and hooks.”

Moore also talked about how with current-gen consoles, even best-sellers like Tiger Woods did not offer a “full” form of interaction with Wii’s controls, with which the company has found developmentally difficult to attain total immersion.

“It’s been a little more difficult when you take a game like basketball and how do you bring that to life with the Wii Remote? When you take a game like hockey, it’s a little easier because you’ve got a stick in your hand,” he said.

“Tiger has been great. We’ve made some strides with Madden. I think you’ll find that the work we’re going to do in Tennis in particular, where it feels very natural and you’ve got this range of motion that recognizes your wrist turning that is going to allow to have some sensitivity in the racket”.

Moving on to EA Sports Active, Moore is not deterred by people who purchased Wii Fit. He feels that the exercises contained in that game were more appealing to balance and coordination enthusiasts — meaning more of an Eastern philosophy to exercise.

Western physical fitness is based more around cardio, and this is where he feels EA will succeed with Sports Active.

Finally, asked about the cover to EA Fight Night Round 4 featuring Ali and Tyson, he said that the cover was chosen because it would be a “quintessential” dream fight.

“Ali will hold him off for six or seven rebounds, keeping him at arm’s length and then go in for the kill and probably take a knockout by 10 or 11 — or in the old days, round 12 or 13,” he said.

ESA bossman Michael Gallagher is asking the Texas government for stronger tax incentives for software companies doing business in the state.

Gallagher explains that the development community in Texas is just as important as the SXSW conference created for the state’s music and entertainment industry.

The Texas Senate and House of Representative are currently considering bills to expand such economic incentives, and Gallagher wants the game industry to be included in the decision-making process.

“Texas currently risks falling behind several states in economic incentive programs for the entertainment industry, he said.

“This year alone, thirteen states are actively considering legislation that will either create or significantly expand their existing incentive program for digital interactive media development and production.

“These incentives not only help meet the needs of the video game industry for talented programmers and animators, but also help keep the state’s brightest young minds from moving away.”

More through the link.

Warner’s released 20 new shots for Terminator: Salvation.

Gamespot has them. So pack a lunch and go take a peek.

Game’s out on May 22 for PS3 and 360, alongside the film.

Battlefront.com and 1C Company released a playable English demo for Theatre of War 2: Afrika 1943 this morning.

FileFront has it.

It includes one tutorial mission to get you acquainted to the command and control of your units, as well as one full mission, The Battle of Sidi Bou Zid which takes place in early February 1943.

The game launches worldwide on April 24, and customers who have already purchased the first one from Battlefront.com can pre-order Theatre of War 2 at a reduced price.

Acclaim will be allowing players into the closed beta for The Chronicles of Spellborn today, individuals “hand-picked” from chats, David Perry’s Twitter and a beta tester list.

Tomorrow, another 1,000 accounts will be let in every 12 hours until servers have reached full capacity. Watch for email notifications or notices on your Acclaim account page.

Loads of people have been wanting to try this out, so now’s your chance.

Thanks, Kotaku.

Grand Slam Tennis producer Thomas Singleton has posted a video explaining the game’s Wii MotionPlus controls.

The background noise in it is just awful, but this is what we picked up:

• The game stands on it’s own with or without the WMP; it is just enhanced by it
• You plug the WMP device into your remote and it allows your character to mimic your moves
• When you twist the Wiimote in your hands, the racket on screen does a spin with complete rotation
• Ball placement is determined by your swing

Pretty much everything that has already been said, but this time straight from the horse’s mouth so to speak.

Watch it below.

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